by Wood, Vivian
Elijah stripped and let his clothes fall on the porch and the front yard. He fell to all fours, shifting with the creaks and snaps of bone, the rending and mending of flesh. He let his wolf take over, receding to the far corner of his mind like a small child in the wake of an angry parent. It was all too much, and he couldn’t work it through yet.
He ran toward the distant mountain, letting everything else go. Soon, he was nothing but the sweet burn of his muscles and the pumping of his blood and the air in his lungs. Elijah was gone, leaving the wolf in his stead, and the wolf wanted to run and run and never stop.
Chapter Thirty-Six
At noon on the second day of Elijah’s disappearance, Ivy got worried enough to call Kiley.
“Hey!” her friend chirped. “Finally taking a breather from all the crazy sex?”
“No, not exactly,” Ivy sighed.
“Does that mean you’re having sex right now?” Kiley teased.
“Kiley… no. I’m assuming this means that you haven’t seen Elijah yesterday or today.”
Kiley was quiet for a beat.
“Uh, no. Garrett and I have been otherwise occupied. Besides, we’ve barely seen Elijah a dozen times since you two got together. Apparently your charms are more persuasive than ours.”
“We had a fight,” Ivy blurted out. “He ran off.”
“Like… drove to Billings or something?” Kiley asked, sounding surprised.
“No. Like he stripped on the front porch, left his clothes and wallet there, and ran off.”
“Should I ask what you were fighting about?”
“He, um… he found some of my Huntington’s stuff. I hadn’t found the right moment to tell him, exactly,” Ivy admitted. “And there was some other stuff… I don’t know, it’s all screwed up now.”
“Well, shit.”
“Yeah, pretty much,” Ivy agreed.
“And he left yesterday?”
“No, the day before. I’m starting to get worried.”
“He’s probably up on the mountain. There’s a cave there, nice hunting close by. Garrett’s shown it to him before.”
“Ah,” Ivy said, losing steam. She wasn’t sure what to say to that. If he wasn’t coming back, he just wasn’t coming back. Nothing to be done about it.
“I’ll send Garrett up to get him,” Kiley said.
“No, I don’t want to interrupt you guys,” Ivy sighed.
“No, seriously, he almost put my hip out of joint this morning. I need a break, and we’re running out of groceries anyway. Garrett always eats down the house after a mission. Drives me nuts.”
“If you’re sure…” Ivy said. “I mean, he might not want to come back after this.”
“Girl…” Kiley said, rolling her r to show her frustration. “No way. Elijah’s not like that. He’s so into you, it’s stupid. If you don’t know that, you’re even dumber than he is.”
Ivy couldn’t help but laugh at that.
“You have such a way with words,” she said.
“I know what I’m talking about, is all,” Kiley fired back.
“Alright. Well, I guess I’ll just… you know, wait for him.”
“Ugh, gross. You love him, don’t you?” Kiley accused.
“Shut up. I’ll call you later,” Ivy said, hanging up the phone.
A smile crept across her face for a moment. Kiley was right; Ivy did love Elijah. It hadn’t been part of her plan, and they’d only been together for a few months, but it was a plain fact. He was opinionated, true. Stubborn, sometimes overbearing and overprotective. Once, he’d refused to let her use her own can opener because he insisted that she was not “using it wisely”.
Still, he was thoughtful, considerate, and caring. He was passionate about his job and his life, and a Greek god in bed. It wasn’t just that she wanted his child, though she’d known that the moment she’d laid eyes on him.
No, Elijah had stolen her heart by being a wonderful man, and she’d just sat back and let him do it. The question remained whether he felt strongly enough about her to stay around, despite her diagnosis and her deception.
Ivy realized that she could only wait and see.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Elijah felt dueling sensations when he crossed the line onto Ivy’s property.
He felt tired, the bone-deep kind that comes with sadness. He had no idea what to do about Ivy’s diagnosis, and the helplessness was killing him more than anything else.
He felt tension, from head to toe, inside and out. He had no idea if the combination of his running away and the previous prenuptial fight meant that Ivy wanted him to return so that she could kick his ass to the curb, permanently. Garrett had found him up on the mountain, but they hadn’t talked much. His friend didn’t have any answers, just Ivy’s request that he come back to the house.
He felt angry, too. It wasn’t really Ivy’s deception, that part he completely understood. She’d tried to keep it from him, yes, but she’d also tried to shield him from getting too involved and getting hurt. The real problem was that he’d really never loved anyone before, and he’d been stupid enough to fall for a woman who would leave him one day. She wouldn’t have a choice but to leave him, and that made him more angry.
He also felt relief as he hit the ranch boundary, because even if he was exhausted and angry and sad, he still wanted Ivy. He wanted to be with her, wanted to hold her, kiss her. He wanted to be inside her, as close as he could be with her, to make her feel pleasure, to feel wanted.
When he finally loped up into her front drive, he was surprised to see Ivy sitting on the front porch, all bundled up and sipping from a big, steaming thermos. She spotted him, eyes narrowing, and for a moment he feared that she would shoo him away.
But she was Ivy; she would never do that. Instead she rose on slippered feet and pointed to a pile of clothes that she’d hung over the railing. It seemed that she had indeed been expecting him.
Elijah shifted, pulling on jeans, a sweater, and a jacket and slipping his feet into a pair of his tennis shoes. His breath condensed in the air and he eyed the sky, figuring that it would snow soon. Tonight, probably.
“Can we go inside?” he asked.
Ivy raised a brow. He wasn’t actually cold, muscles still hot from his extended run, but he didn’t want her to be outside in this weather. She gave him a look that said she knew what he was up to, but she rose and headed inside.
They shed their shoes and jackets by the door, hanging the jackets on their pegs and lining the shoes by the wall. Elijah found the practice of it strange, the little rituals that they’d built up since they’d met feeling awkward for the first time.
Elijah trailed Ivy to the couch and sat beside her, unsure how to begin.
“I need you to tell me something,” Ivy said, looking down at her hands in her lap. “I need you to tell me that you don’t just want a child so you can inherit a castle, or whatever.”
Shame crept into Elijah’s chest.
“When I first found out that you wanted a family right away, that was the main draw. I thought you were very beautiful, but I mainly wanted a family to keep my legacy.”
Ivy glanced up at him, giving him a quick glimpse of the misery in her beautiful eyes before she nodded and ducked her head once more.
“Ivy,” he said, reaching out to cover one of her hands with his. “That was only at the beginning, before I knew you. It’s not at all how I feel now. You understand that?”
She shrugged a single shoulder, and it nearly broke him.
“Ivy, you’re my mate,” he said, tugging at her fingers.
She looked up at him, shock and denial written across her face.
“But—” she started, but seemed unable to continue as tears filled her eyes.
“I need something from you, too,” he said, squeezing her hand.
“I’m so sorry!” she blurted out. “I didn’t mean to mislead you—”
“That’s not— no. I need you to tell me that we’ll have time toget
her. However long it is, I just need to know…”
“Years. Fifteen, maybe. Maybe more,” she said, using her free hand to wipe at her tears. “I know it’s not enough…”
“Ivy, you could tell me eighty years and I’d say it’s not enough,” Elijah said, reaching out to pull her closer.
“I’d understand if you wanted to leave,” she said, turning her face away from him. “I lied to you, and I won’t… I won’t be around to see my children graduate, you know?”
“I could never,” he uttered, cupping her chin and turning her face toward his. “I could never, never do that. I love you, Ivy.”
Ivy’s face crumpled and she threw herself into his arms. A feeling of rightness bloomed in his chest as he held her and stroked her hair, his own eyes stinging a bit. He felt overwhelmed. Sad, elated, devastated, overjoyed. Up and down.
When Ivy pulled back for a moment to look at him, he gave her a smile.
“I love you too, Elijah,” she said.
His smile widened to a grin, only to be stolen away when Ivy brushed her lips against his.
Elijah grabbed Ivy and pulled her onto his lap, facing him to straddle his hips. He slipped his hands under her shirt and ran his calloused palms over the smooth skin of her hips and back. Ivy squealed at the chill of his touch, but when he swept his hands up to cup her breasts through her bra she moaned and arched into his touch.
Ivy nipped his lower lip, eliciting a deep, rumbling growl from Elijah, his wolf making itself known. He pinched her nipples through her bra, hard. She gasped and brought her body flush against his.
Elijah hissed when she rubbed her mound over his thickening cock, digging the fingers of one hand deep into the thick fall of her blonde hair. He tugged her head back, opening the creamy column of her neck to his teeth and tongue. He nipped and licked and sucked at her earlobe, neck, and nape until she writhed in his arms and cried out for mercy.
“Eli, please,” Ivy pled. He loved the way she said his name, loved hearing her beg for more of him.
“Get these off,” he ordered, stripping away her sweater and shirt, helping her pull off her thick wool leggings and panties at once. He unhooked and dispatched her bra, leaving her naked on his lap. When she tugged up the hem of his shirt he let her undress him. She lifted herself up, unbuttoning and pushing his jeans down and off with his help.
His hands found her smooth, bare hips first, then slid up to trace the shape of her full, heavy breasts. Ivy rose up on her knees, arms above her head in a classic pinup pose, the very essence of a vixen.
Elijah could barely breathe for wanting her, his cock throbbing insistently as he felt her soft warmth pressed against his aching body, watched the way she moved over him.
He slid a hand between them, biting his lip to suppress a moan when he found her soaking wet slit. Ivy licked her lips and let out a soft gasp as his fingers brushed her slit, teasing her clit. He slid a two thick fingers into her tight channel, loving how wet and ready she was for him.
“Ach, Ivy,” he murmured, withdrawing. He gripped her hip with one hand and his erection with the other, maneuvering her down until her wet heat met the pulsing crown of his cock.
“Yes!” she cried. She pressed herself down, inch by tight, hot inch. He had to grit his teeth to keep from thrusting up at first, but he waited, knowing the reward would be sweet. Her hands came down to rest on his shoulders, fingers tightening on him. Ivy settled all the way down, taking him fully, making him groan.
“Fuck, Ivy. Fuck me,” he hissed.
He dug his fingers into the flesh of her hips, leaning back and letting her find her own pace. She raised and lowered herself, slowly at first, then faster as her juices made the movement slick and easy.
Ivy moved on him, her tightness and warmth making him ache, making his balls draw up and tense with the need for release.
Elijah’s gaze roved; he watched where they were joined, the way she pumped up and down and milked his cock. He watched her tits bounce as she moved, the sexiest thing he could imagine. And he watched her expression, eyes closed, head tilted backward, mouth open as she gasped and moaned with pleasure.
Ivy was radiant, skin gleaming as she warmed in his arms, her exquisite bliss evident in every movement. Her innermost muscles tightened around him, her muscles slowing, and he could feel that she was close. Elijah slid his hands up, thumbs on her hip bones and fingers digging into her ass, and started helping her to move.
“Elijah, Elijah,” she chanted as he started thrusting up into her, drawing her closer and closer to release. Ivy’s movements slowed as she came to the brink, and then she plummeted over the edge, shattering around him with a shudder, her velvet heat clenching and pulsing.
For several long moments, Elijah thought he was dying. Ivy was enraptured, as beautiful as she’d ever been, and her body was too good. Too tight, too hot, too much.
He was frozen in time, unable to move, unable to breathe. Ivy moved on him in slow motion, her nails scoring his back in her frantic euphoria. Then suddenly he was coming, everything tightening as his vision fled.
Elijah arched up into her body, giving a ragged cry as he released deep pulses of seed into her, struggling for breath as he filled Ivy completely.
He collapsed back on the couch, Ivy melting against him as if boneless. They rested like that, tangled up and sticky, their harshly-drawn breaths the only sounds in the house.
Time passed, minutes or hours or eons, before Ivy finally stirred. She kissed him, a kiss that spoke volumes. Gratitude and desperation and hunger, all mingled with love and affection.
“We’re going to be okay, aren’t we?” she asked, more a statement than a question.
Elijah returned her kiss and smiled, nodding.
“Aye, I’d say we’ll make it.”
“And you still want a baby with me?” she asked, less certain this time.
Elijah looked at Ivy, all that blonde hair and bare skin and those big gray eyes. She might love him, but she still didn’t know that she could trust him to go any distance, that there was nothing he wouldn’t do for her. She would learn, and he’d start teaching her right now.
“Ivy, you’re my mate. When you’re ready, we’ll tell everyone.”
“Elijah, no. I can’t do that to you. Mates are for life, and I—”
Elijah grabbed her hands and gave them a shake, stopping her words.
“It’s already done, darlin’, and I wouldn’t do it any different. Not a bit. All that’s left to talk about is when and how we tell people about it, and how soon we can get you with child. You said before, we have no time to waste.”
“With child,” she said, a soft smile forming on her lips. “I can’t wait.”
“And you’re a lucky woman, because you don’t have to,” Elijah said.
With that, he scooped her up, making Ivy laugh.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“I heard you were in need of a child, and there’s only one way to do that,” he said. “And right now darlin’, I’m starting the rest of our lives.”
Elijah carried her off to the bedroom, intent on doing just that.
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About Vivian Wood
Vivian is an erotic romance writer, author of the Alpha Guardians, Winter Pass Wolves, Red Lodge Bears, Werewolf’s Harem, and Louisiana Shifters somethingseries.
Vivian has been an autodidact from a young age, and to this day she'll read anything she can get her hands on - back of the cereal box, billboards, whatever. When she's not reading or writing romantic stories, Vivian likes making drinks from her Trader Vic's cocktail recipe book, snuggling her badly behaved dog, and drinking great coffee on rainy wraparound porches in New Orleans.
Vivian really enjoys her work, and is always excited to see what's in store next for her beloved characters.
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